Blizzard rescinds naming policy

Earlier this week Blizzard Entertainment drew great debate from its engaged community over a new tweak to the Real ID service. The measure would require users to register with their real names, where they would be attached to forum postings beginning this month with Starcraft II.

However, Blizzard has repealed that policy just three days after it was announced. In a post on the World of Warcraft forums, Blizzard CEO and cofounder Mike Morhaime explained the situation.

"I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games," Morhaime said on the forums. "We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums."

The completely voluntary Real ID system, a service that allows friends to easily follow each other's activities is already live for World of Warcraft users and will launch with Starcraft II at the end of the month. Additionally, Blizzard plans to move forward with beefing up forums by implementing comment threading, improved search functionality, and the ability to up- or down-vote posts. The new forums will arrive near the release of Starcraft II this month and World of Warcraft's Cataclysm later this year.